🔨 From hammer to mouse: my story of handmade copper
There's a sound I'll never forget: that of my father's hammer striking copper in our small workshop. It was the rhythm of patience, precision, and love for an ancient craft. There, amid the sparks and the smell of hot metal, it all began.
I learned by observing. My father's hands were my first book. He taught me how to chisel, emboss, and tinplate. But above all, he taught me respect: for the material, for time, and for those who receive a handmade object.
Over time, I felt the need to share this beauty beyond the workshop walls. Technology, which seemed so distant from the world of craftsmanship, became a traveling companion. I built my first website alone, step by step, like a pot: with patience, trial and error.
Then came the first online orders. The first customers, far away, but close in heart. I studied SEO, photography, and storytelling. I learned to speak to the world, without betraying my voice.
Today I continue to work with copper as I did then, but with an open mind. Every piece I create is unique, just as it was in my father's workshop. But now it can reach anywhere. In a kitchen in New York, a restaurant in Paris, the home of someone who loves handmade objects.
🌍 From the workshop to the world: copper that travels far
At first it was just a game. I had created a few copper objects, carefully photographed them, and uploaded them online, thinking, "Let's see if anyone in Italy appreciates them." I didn't imagine that those "someones" would arrive from every corner of the world.
Pots, trays, ornaments... unique handmade pieces that left my workshop and arrived in Japanese kitchens, French restaurants, and American homes. Objects that carried with them the scent of copper, the memory of my father, and my signature.
To achieve this, I studied. I read documentation on international shipping, customs, and packaging. I learned to use marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy, to write descriptions that conveyed not only the product, but the soul behind it. I discovered the power of words, photos, and trust.
During Covid, while everything stopped, I continued to create. The world was closed, but the web was open. People, locked in their homes, were searching for beauty, authenticity, and true stories. And I was there, in my workshop, hammering, tin-plating, polishing, and shipping. Every order was a bridge between solitudes.
Meanwhile, I continued to cultivate my roots. Advertising in my area, fairs, markets, and hand-tinning services. But today, my workshop thrives primarily online. I answer emails, create quotes, and receive special requests from chefs and collectors. Every day is different, every customer is a journey.
The copper has remained the same. So have the hands. But the world around us has changed, and so have I.
✈️ Copper Travels: Stories of Special Orders from Every Corner of the World
When I started selling online, I thought my objects would find a home in Italy, perhaps in the kitchens of enthusiasts or in restaurants devoted to tradition. I never imagined that my copper would cross oceans, deserts, and unexpected borders.
📦 An order from Saudi Arabia: A customer asked me for handmade copper pots, with custom thicknesses, suitable for his traditional kitchen. We studied every detail together: diameter, handles, finishes. When I shipped those pots, I felt that my work spoke a universal language: that of authenticity.
🕊️ A 1-meter copper sun, shipped to Ukraine during the war: An order that touched me deeply. In the midst of conflict, someone wanted to bring light, beauty, hope. That hand-chiseled sun left my workshop with a special emotion. Copper, in that case, was more than an object: it was a message.
🌏 Firewood baskets from New Zealand: On the other side of the world, in a house surrounded by nature, there's now a copper basket carrying firewood to the fireplace. A piece born in the mountains of Lombardy, now living among those of the ocean. A sign that copper has no boundaries. Only stories to tell.
Every order is a journey. Every customer is an encounter. Every object is a bridge between cultures, between hands, between hearts.
Copper is global. It's universal. It's eternal.
🚀 Don't limit yourself: craftsmanship can fly
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that craftsmanship isn't confined within the walls of a workshop. It's not provincial, it's not small. It's as big as the world, if we let it breathe.
To young artisans, to those who are starting out, to those who dream of creating with their hands and their hearts: don't stay locked into "it's always been done this way." Tradition is precious, but it's not a cage. It's a root. And roots are for growing, not standing still.
🌐 Today, with a little money and a lot of passion, you can make yourself
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